Students find new lunch rules tough to swallow

ELIYAHU GURFINKEL/ANN ARBOR NEWSMichael White, center, the new principal of Pioneer High School, tells students that they cannot leave the outdoor lunch area during lunchtime at the school on Tuesday.

As Sean Anderson headed out of a courtyard in between Pioneer High School's gym and cafeteria Tuesday, Michael White swooped in.

Firmly he told Anderson, a senior at the Ann Arbor school, that he couldn't leave the area because he didn't have a pass from a teacher. White, the new Pioneer principal, told Anderson he could stay in the courtyard or go into either the gym or cafeteria for the rest of the lunch hour.

It was a scene repeated over and over again Tuesday as students struggled with new rules White has put in place this year.

White said he's trying to maintain "safety and order" in the large school. One of the ways he's doing that is by limiting where students can eat lunch - a big change from last year, when students could eat just about anywhere they wanted.

"We're not trying to make it a prison," White said. "I will do everything within my authority to make sure that every student will be safe and that it (the school) will be orderly. We are trying to be as flexible as we can be and keep that in place."

Students have greeted the changes with a loud chorus of boos.

"To be frank, they (the new rules) suck," said sophomore Morgan Utt. "He's treating us like we're in elementary school."

Under the new rules, students can eat in one of the three areas. If they get a pass from a teacher, they can go to that teacher's classroom for extra help or a club meeting. If they are a junior or senior and have permission from their parents, they can eat off campus.

Elisha Israel thinks having to get a pass in advance to visit a teacher will discourage students from getting extra help.

"I don't see how this is helping students," said Israel, also a sophomore. "In the long run, I think it's going to hurt students' academics."

White said students will still be able to see teachers; they'll just have to "show they are responsible by planning ahead." He did say he thinks administrators will carry passes with them to give them out to students they know are heading to teachers' classrooms if a pass is forgotten.

White carried a portable public address system with him Tuesday as he patrolled during lunchtime, using it occasionally, but just as often stopping to talk to a student, or answer a question.

"We just need to be able to visually see you," White told a group of kids edging outward from the courtyard.

Several students said they don't like the way White is implementing the rules, even as they agreed something needed to be done.

"He treats us like we're children," said Melanie Croos-Daberera, a sophomore.
Another sophomore, Torrie Veit, agreed.

"We get yelled at a bunch for not being in the right place."

White said e-mails he's received from parents are running about 50-50 for and against the change. He also said about 100 parents came up to him Monday night during the annual capsule night to thank him for the new rules. On capsule night, parents follow their students' schedules, spending about 10-15 minutes in each class.

Parent Ted Hayes, who has a senior and a freshman at the school, is among parents who support the new policy.

"There's nothing wrong with having all the students gathered in a couple of places," he said. "It's going to be a lot easier for the administrators to supervise what's going on if everyone is in the same couple of spots instead of being spread all over the school."